Cannabis keeps me sane and happy, says George Michael

Friday 20 October 2006 19.07 EDT
First published on Friday 20 October 2006 19.07 EDT

It is a generally known fact that George Michael likes a spliff - but soon viewers can watch him in action, eulogising cannabis for keeping him sane and happy since he first came across it 20 years ago.

Michael, who has been in the papers for all the wrong reasons this year, has chosen Melvyn Bragg and The South Bank Show to pour out his heart on his career, being gay, the cultural contradictions between his life and work, marijuana and Rupert Murdoch. He openly smokes a joint on camera before a performance in Madrid, admitting: "If I'd drunk as much as I'd smoked - my God I'd look like Keith Richards.

"This stuff keeps me sane and happy. I could write without it ... if I were sane and happy. I'd say it's a great drug - but obviously it's not very healthy. You can't afford to smoke it if you've got anything else to do."

The millionaire singer is careful not to go too far in his praise, cautioning: "It can be a terrible, terrible drug. You've got to be in the right position to take it. You've got to have achieved most of your ambitions because it chills you out to such a degree that you could lose your ambitions."

An ITV spokeswoman was quick to point out Michael was filmed in Madrid, where she said it was legal to smoke. Michael is also keen to deny that the two occasions this year when police have found him slumped at the wheel of his car were drug-related. Viewers of the programme, to be shown on October 31, will see the message: "George Michael wishes to inform viewers that he has never tested positive for drink or drugs whilst driving."

Cannabis was also not involved when the News of the World snapped Michael after he had been cruising on Hampstead Heath at 2am, hooking up with an unemployed van driver from Brighton.

None of these incidents suggest he is losing it, the star insists. "I feel good. I live in the house of my dreams with the man of my dreams. I'm happy with the music I'm making and I'm still loaded."

Charities took a dimmer view. William Butler, a spokesman for Addaction, said: "We are concerned about the message this can send out to young people, especially when there is such confusion about the legality of cannabis. Cannabis is illegal because it can be harmful, as can all drugs."

Paul Corry, of mental health charity Rethink, said: "As a huge international star any public comments will draw enormous attention. His comments are stupid and naive ... cannabis is not a risk-free drug. For a significant minority of people it is a trigger for developing a severe long-term mental illness like schizophrenia."